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BOUNCE shop-talk@Autox.Team.Net: Non-member submission from [crussell

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Subject: BOUNCE shop-talk@Autox.Team.Net: Non-member submission from [crussell@San-Jose.ate.slb.com (Christopher Russell)]
From: Mark J Bradakis <mjb>
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 1997 15:14:11 -0700 (MST)

     Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 11:58:00 -0800 (PST)
     From: crussell@San-Jose.ate.slb.com (Christopher Russell)
     Subject: craftsman guarantee...


A little story about craftsman tools.  Be forwarned that basically
only the handtools which are lifetime guarenteed.  Other more complicated
devices with the craftsman name do not have the same guarentee... I
would suggest you read the guarantees carefully.

When I bought the wrench, I didn't like the look of the plastic handle, 
although the wrachet looked heavy duty enough.  It was the best wrench
they had (in the store), so I figured it was OK.  Also I figured, hey
its craftsman, I can take it back if it breaks.

This weekend I took my craftsman torque wrench back to sears to get
it replaced.   I only use the wrench as intended but the "handle" came
loose, I took it apart a little bit and I could see how it went together 
(not very well - a couple of nuts are jammed together to hold
the handle in place), but it would need to be recalibrated for sure.

Anyway, it was a bad omen when I saw somebody else walking out of the
store with basically the same model wrench, and it looked like it
was still broken.

When I went in they told me that only the "wrachet" part was guarenteed
for life.  The cheap plastic part which came apart was not.  They told
me that I can take it to a repair center and see how much it will cost
to fix it -- or get this -- I could buy a new one!  They thought it
was amazing that somebody else had just come it with the same problem
(not so amazing to me, they probably all break after a while).

I'm hoping that if I can basically get it put back together (I can see
where it came apart), that I can get it recalibrated for free.  They
did mention that calibration may be free.

...Chris

P.S. Oh yah, can anybody suggest a source for a good torque wrench, that
reliable enough for a home mechanic to use (i.e. I know a snap-on would do
it but it would probably cost $400 or something).
> 
> My personal opinion is, at least for the regular type sockets and wrenches,
> to go with Craftsman.  They are guaranteed for life, you have available
> replacements everywhere a Sears store is located and they are more than
> adequate for us part time hobbyist mechanics.  My first set
> of craftsman tools was a 3/8 drive with ratchets.  Cost at the time was
> something like $19.99.  I've replaced the 3/8 breaker drive at least
> three times.  If I bought just a ratchet today
> I'd pay almost the same cost as the whole set originally
> cost me.
> 
> Anyway, they've served me well for the 30+ years I've used
> them (shoot, it's now almost 40 years...God I'm getting
> old :-(
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> Bill Sohl   Budd Lake, NJ   billsohl@planet.net


--
Christopher L. Russell      Sr. Software Engineer -- Schlumberger ATE
email:chrisr@cs.stanford.edu   WWW: http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~chrisr

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